IN THE SHAPE OF TOYS!

It’s Anne again from Sofilantjes. Today I am here to stretch the theme Toys a little. I came up with this fun idea about mimicking toy shapes. That does not mean that I will show you how to dress your child like a teddy bear, because that would be dressing up (yet adorable….)

I thought it would be fun to give you some advice about body shapes and patterns. Children, just like adults, have different body shapes. The differences aren’t huge like with adults, but there can still be a different build. And the older they get, the larger the differences become. So let’s talk about those body shapes and patterns that fit those shapes. Only I am not using the apple, pear, hourglass like you would with adult body shapes. I am using toys.

First lets talk about (Pear) Toll shapes. Children with these shapes usually have a slimmer upper body but larger hips and butts. For these types of kids, I would suggest using patterns for blazers, shirts with V-necklines or lots of detail around the neckline. Patterns that draw attention to the upper body. But also fun pants with fun details. To give you some ideas here are a few I found for you:

Hourglass. Ok, so I do talk about pear, apple and hourglass. But the hourglass is a toy too right?! I used to play with it all the time. I had a fun pink one with gel in it that used to drop down.

For the hourglass figure, that usually comes when children (mostly girls) get older there are some great patterns to find. Patterns that fit this type of figure really well, are dresses or tunics with detail on waist. You want to draw the most attention to the waistline. High waistlines usually are less flattering. Here are some beautiful patterns that work for these type of figures, but they will work well for other figures (and are a must have).

The 8-shape can be made out of train tracks, car tracks, puzzles…. And do not forget toy magnets of the number 8. The 8-figure is like the hourglass but with more curves. Fun pattern for a figure like this are crop tops, beautiful dresses that sit at the waist and skirts with high waistlines.

Rectangles can be found anywhere. Magnets, toy busses, doll carriers. Lots of little children have rectangle shapes too. There is no clear waistline yet. Good patterns for those little ones are pants with lots of details, dresses with wide skirts for the little ladies but also straight dresses.

Reversed triangle. I had so much fun searching for these shapes in toys. It actually made me look at toys really differently. We have a home full of very interesting toys. The triangle, like the rectangle, is in a lot of toys. I also see this body shape on my almost 6-year-old. Skinny legs with a skinny waist and wide shoulders. You can almost see how he will look like when he is an adult. At least I hope so 🙂

Patterns that fit body shapes like my son are baggy or boyfriend pants, although a regular fitted pants will fit my son baggy at this point… And simple T-shirts. Clean lines on the shoulders for boys. For girls you will need to draw the attention to the legs.

Apple, see the image below. It’s a toy apple. We have lots of them in our home. They stay in the toy kitchen. There are also lots of puzzles and other toy apples to be found. I even found one with a toy worm in it!

Apple shaped children usually have a larger belly. You will see this shape in lots of little children but bigger children too. Fun patterns to use for these types of figure that will make them look great, are wide boxy tops, tight and shorter skirts for the girls and pants with lots of details to the hips.

Most of the patterns shown above are for girls, but that’s just because there are more patterns for girls than boys…. There are some fun unisex or boys pattern designers out there though. Are you already planning on how to incorporate toys in to your sewing project? This might be a bit of a stretch but anything is possible right? And if you add a fun fabric with toys or a nice applique you will have doubled your toys inspiration 😉